Juliet Brophy: How a new species of ancestors is changing our theory of human evolution
Juliet Brophy: Kako nova vrsta predaka mijenja teoriju ljudske evolucije
Juliet Brophy explores human evolution in southern Africa. Full bio
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thousands and even millions of years.
tisuće i milijune godina.
named a new species in the genus Homo --
otkrili smo novu vrstu u rodu Homo –
and put that into context.
kako bismo to stavili u kontekst.
between humans and chimps
ljudi i čimpanza
and eight million years.
6 – 8 milijuna godina.
known as the australopithecines.
poznatu kao australopitecini.
evolved into the genus Homo
to better understanding who we are
changes to this tree.
promijeniti ovo stablo.
about the patterns of evolutionary change.
obrasce evolucijskih promjena.
of the genus Homo evolved in Africa
pojavile su se u Africi
and three million years.
300,000 years to where we see the origins
oko 300 000 godina kad su se pojavili
između ta dva datuma u Africi
between these time frames in Africa
demonstrated certain trends
to modern humans.
u moderne ljude.
were becoming larger
sve više povećavali
as we began to make and use stone tools
došlo zbog izrade i uporabe kamenog oruđa
we thought we knew about these trends
što smo mislili da znamo o tim trendovima
that we think about human evolution.
na koji razmišljamo o ljudskoj evoluciji.
of thousands of fossils have been found.
I fell in love with one of them ...
zaljubila sam se u jednoga od njih...
early human ancestor.
staru 2,1 milijun godina.
i proučavati ljudsku evoluciju.
and study human evolution.
moje oduševljenje
as an early career scientist
of recently excavated unpublished fossils.
fosila iskopanih nedugo prije toga.
was being recovered from a new site
pronađeno je na novom nalazištu,
in the Rising Star cave system.
u spiljskom sustavu Rising Star.
based on a skull, a lower jaw,
po lubanji, donjoj čeljusti
or below-the-neck, elements.
tj. onih ispod vrata.
were another story altogether.
approximately 1800 specimens --
1 800 fragmenata kostiju –
from the Rising Star system,
15 individual skeletons.
15 pojedinačnih kostura.
that I was invited to join
kojoj sam se pridružila
comparing and analyzing the fossils,
usporediti i analizirati fosile
to what species the fossils belonged.
into our different areas of expertise.
prema područjima stručnosti.
in different areas of the lab, too.
na razna područja.
for the fossil hand people,
koji su se bavili fosilima ljudskih šaka,
u laboratoriju,
i raspravljale o svojim nalazima,
and discuss our findings,
from our analyses.
koja su proizlazila iz naših analiza.
the interpretations were.
tumačenja razlikovala.
from a different species,
potjecao od različite vrste,
saznali iz fosilnih nalaza.
from the fossil record.
seeing didn't match any known species.
nije odgovarao ni jednoj poznatoj vrsti.
we might have called it one thing;
nazvali bismo je jednim imenom;
we might have called it another.
nazvali bismo je nekim drugim.
didn't make sense
we knew of human evolution.
o ljudskoj evoluciji.
sličnijih majmunima?
did indeed warrant a new species,
Rising Star doista pripadaju novoj vrsti,
of primitive, or ancestral,
tj. naslijeđenih,
representatives of the genus Homo,
ranim predstavnicima roda Homo,
half the size of a modern human one.
kao onaj modernih ljudi.
pronađenog pripadnika ranog roda Homo.
early Homo that has ever been found.
najkul fosili pronađeni na nalazištu.
fossils found at the site.
whole or fragmentary teeth
ili fragmentarnih zubi
from very old to very young.
od vrlo starih do vrlo mladih.
of primitive and derived traits.
i stečenih značajki.
while the first molar is the biggest,
dok je prvi kutnjak najveći,
has the primitive condition
ima primitivnu značajku:
and the first molar is the smallest.
a prvi najmanji.
has a cuspulid on it --
a distinct mitten-like shape
izrazit oblik rukavice s palcem
of the early human, Homo erectus.
vrste Homo erectus.
looked odd to me,
of deciduous teeth, or baby teeth --
and molars on your right.
s vaše desne strane.
in their outline shape
"low intraspecific variations,"
„mali broj intraspecifičnih varijacija“,
within the species is low.
unutar vrste.
like the australopithecines,
kao što su australopitecini,
is much larger.
mnogo je veći.
zaključili smo
suggesting naledi was a climber;
da je H. naledi bio penjač,
are all primitive for the genus Homo.
previše primitivni za rod Homo.
long slender legs and modern feet
dugim vitkim nogama i modernim stopalima
with other members of the genus.
more specimens of Homo naledi
o novim primjercima vrste Homo naledi
spiljskog sustava Rising Star.
managed to produce an age estimate.
uspio datirati nalaze.
because, up until now,
jer smo sve dosad
on the morphology of the specimens,
na morfologiji primjeraka
of how old something is --
njihove starosti –
bias our interpretations.
utjecala na naša tumačenja.
i proširenu zdjelicu,
two million years old.
i do dva milijuna godina.
za jedinke s tako malim mozgom.
for such a small-brained individual.
što sam ranije spomenula:
larger relative to the rest of our body.
povećavali u odnosu na ostatak tijela.
young individual complicating this idea.
s malim mozgom, što komplicira stvari.
what it means to be in the genus Homo.
što znači pripadati rodu Homo.
what it means to be human.
that we use to define the genus Homo,
s pomoću kojih smo definirali rod Homo,
i morfologija kuka,
of primitive and derived traits.
primitivnih i stečenih osobina.
variation in the genus Homo?
u rodu Homo?
is that for the first time,
i zbog toga što prvi put
of a species coexisting in Africa,
postojanju određene vrste u Africi,
modern humans that existed in Africa.
samo moderni ljudi velikoga mozga.
međusobno razmnožavali?
that these fossils have
studying stone tools in South Africa.
kameno oruđe u južnoj Africi.
nor the Lesedi Chambers
ni u komori Lesedi
with several stone-tool industries,
vremenski podudara
to be either modern humans
u južnoj Africi?
ključnim pokazateljem
played a key role
je li se određena vrsta služila oruđem.
to have a large brain
to make stone tools.
izrade kamenog oruđa.
even with its small brain size,
sa svojim malim mozgom
similar to other species
sličnu onoj drugih vrsta
upotrebljavale kameno oruđe,
da je bio sposoban za to.
istovremeno postojale u Africi
in Africa at 300,000 years,
da znamo tko su tvorci oruđa
we know the maker of tools
nikakvi ljudski nalazi.
in our human evolutionary lineage?
u evolucijsku liniju ljudi?
paleoanthropologists are renowned
paleoantropolozi čuveni
our evolutionary past.
naše evolucijske prošlosti.
a special place in my heart,
posebno mjesto u mojem srcu,
with several thousand others.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Juliet Brophy - PaleoanthropologistJuliet Brophy explores human evolution in southern Africa.
Why you should listen
Juliet Brophy's research interests involve using morphometric analyses of fossil teeth to examine taxonomic differences among Plio-Pleistocene fossil human ancestors (hominins) and to evaluate their evolutionary relationships. Her most recent focus investigates the teeth of Australopithecus sediba and Homo naledi from South Africa. Her ongoing research helped establish the phylogenetic position of these fossils.
Brophy also documents the paleoenvironments associated with the South African hominins and assesses how changes in these environments might have influenced human evolution. She works as an assistant professor biological anthropologist with a specialization in paleoanthropology in the Department of Geography and Anthropology at Louisiana State University.
Juliet Brophy | Speaker | TED.com